This isn’t your typical commoner meets royalty romance. The scandalous tales reported in the tabloids about a Norwegian princess (who fell in love with a Hollywood shaman and gave up her crown) just barely scratch the surface. Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story offers access to the controversial royal couple, diving into the day-to-day life of Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett, a New Age healer and self-professed shaman, as they prepare for their royal wedding. 

Rebel Royals was created by Emmy-nominated director Rebecca Chaiklin (Tiger King) and Emmy-winning producer Chris Smith (FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened). “When I saw the Vanity Fair article about a princess and a shaman falling in love, it instantly caught my eye,” Chaiklin tells Netflix. “Märtha Louise and Shaman Durek were two completely unexpected, wild, and charismatic characters from totally different worlds, navigating a swirl of controversy and fighting for love. It was a great fish-out-of-water story — and they were so funny. So I just had to convince them (and the spirits) that I was ‘lit’ enough to be the one to tell their story.”

When will Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story be released?

Stream it now.

Where can I find the trailer for Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story?

Check it out at the top of this page. 

Who is Märtha?

Märtha Louise of Norway is the eldest daughter of the current reigning monarchs, King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and, due to patrilineal preference, is fourth in line to the throne. Born in 1971, Märtha Louise was raised to be a princess, but found royal life stifling from an early age. A self-declared free spirit, the princess claims to have a clairvoyant connection with angels. As a young woman, she founded a school where she taught people how to communicate with celestial beings, which she ran from 2007 to 2018. Her controversial spiritual beliefs have long made her the center of media scrutiny, and brought considerable negative attention to the royal family and to her first husband, author and visual artist Ari Behn. He and Märtha divorced in 2017, and in 2019, Behn died by suicide. Märtha, who remained focused on the well-being of their three daughters after the divorce, began dating shaman Durek Verrett in 2019. 

Who is Durek?

Little is confirmed about Durek Verrett other than the fact that he was born in 1974 as Derek Verrett. He’s made many conflicting claims about his background and his upbringing — which are further complicated by details of his spiritual past lives. In his 20s, he experienced renal failure and credits this near-death experience as one of his most powerful links to the spirit world. His shamanic practice, in which he attempts to use spiritual energies for physical healing, grew so large in Los Angeles that many big Hollywood names are clients. As his business grew, so did the controversies surrounding Durek, including the alleged sexual coercion of a client. (Durek denies that he has engaged in any sexual misconduct.) But after meeting Märtha, Durek’s life changed. His union with the princess, while it’s been accepted by her family, has been largely rejected by the Norwegian public.

What happens in Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story?

While Rebel Royals touches upon the tabloid headlines and controversies that haunt its titular couple, the documentary is primarily a portrait of an odd couple who met in unusual circumstances and are doing their best to nurture an atypical love in a world that they suggest is set against them. Follow Märtha and Durek as they navigate blending a family, cross-cultural learnings, and planning what they hope is the wedding of the century. 

Where does Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story take place?

Rebels Royals is shot predominantly in Norway, but also in Los Angeles.

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